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Accolades

“This is good news for Massachusetts wine enthusiasts, who will now be able to purchase wines they currently don’t have access to,” said Robert Dwyer of Wellesley, who blogs about wine. “This is also good news for Massachusetts in general since it will mean new revenues.”

"Robert P. Dwyer of Wellesley, who blogs about wine at thewww.wellesleywinepress.com, calls the state’s liquor laws bizarre and favors a wider availability of wine. For consumers, it would be more convenient to be able to buy wine at a supermarket while shopping for food, he said."

“You have this strange exclusion of wine, which in Europe is considered a grocery item,” said Mr. Dwyer. “Here it’s considered the demon rum.”

"trying to predict the annual Wine of the Year is a popular parlor game among enophiles. This year, blogger Wellesley Wine Press held a contest, with New York wine retailer Grapes the Wine Co. awarding a prize of a Kindle Fire e-reader to the first commenter to correctly guess this year's top wine before it was announced. Unfiltered was impressed with the number of Top 10 wines prognosticated by Wellesley's readers. "Senelwine" guessed Château de St.-Cosme Gigondas 2009, our No. 10 wine, "Mike M" guessed Quinta do Vallado Touriga Nacional Douro 2008, our No. 7 wine, "James Z" guessed Baer Ursa Columbia Valley 2008, our No. 6 wine, and "RichardPF" nailed it, winning the Kindle, and the respect of his wine-loving peers. Looks like Wellesley's readers know their wine."

The Chicago Tribune's Bill Daley mentioned the site in Rosé: A wine for more seasons. I said "For me, they're like pumpkin spice coffee drinks: best enjoyed early in the season". Bill alsogave the site a shout-out for a piece the Capitol Case Clubcontributed about restaurant wine service. I thought it was a great example of how print wine writers can effectively engage wine bloggers.

I submitted a piece on Shady Shelf Talkers to Palate Press that was published in its inaugural edition.

This site has been ranked as high as the #1 on PostRank. PostRank dynamically ranks the "influence" of blogs and individual posts within each blog. Read more about how PostRank works in an interview I did with them here. Have a look at this picture from a high water mark for the WWP:

And even though Roger Clemens stabs his radio with a syringe whenever he hears us say it, this is NPR: National Public Radio."

The Boston Globe's website has been linking to my recent entries as part of their expanded local coverage includingWellesley. I truly appreciate that as it has driven a lot of local traffic to this site.

It was really nice of Thomas Matthews, Executive Editor of Wine Spectator to leave a comment and then check back and answer some questions I had. Awesome guy! Check it out here. And here.

Thanks to The Boston Globe for including The Wellesley Wine Press in their list of local blogs in the Food & Drink section. Check it out here.

The Wellesley Wine Press was just added tohttp://wine.alltop.com. Alltop is an interesting topical take on sorting through the best sites on the Internet- check it out and see which sites are listed for topics you're most interested in.

Saturday, March 24, 2012

Sanford's entry level Pinot Noir is a wine I've enjoyed tremendously and reliably over the years. They're one of the wineries featured in Sideways and although Rick Sanford departed long ago, the wines continue to remind me why I still like them each time I taste them. After being purchased by Terlato, Rick Sanford evidently didn't like the lack of commitment shown towards organic farming and started Alma Rosa. His name remains on the label and as with a lot of things prices have risen noticeably over the last 10 years.

Over the holidays I had a bunch of nice wines out to share with family. None drew more praise than a bottle of 2007 Sanford Pinot Noir.

Here are my notes on the 2007:

For me, this wine finds that elusive intersection between tasting really good and being high quality. Slightly darker than your average Pinot Noir. I get rich dark cherries, ripe strawberries, and slightly sweet baking spices on the nose. A really enjoyable mouth feel - ample presence but silky smooth. Higher than average viscosity: It's rich but has tremendous finesse. Never gets heavy. A real beauty. At 5 years of age, this is showing very nicely.

I liked it a lot. Guests went so gonzo for it I don't see how I could score it any lower. I don't think I've ever heard so many collective raves for a wine from this crowd [that appreciates wine].

93/100 WWP: Outstanding

It's hard to find this wine south of $30 regardless of vintage. In looking around a bit I found an amazing price on the 2009 vintage. 2009 is a great vintage for California Pinot and given the track record of this producer I'm willing to take a chance on buying some without tasting it first.

The price is $20.99/bottle at Esquin Wines, eligible for 5% off a straight 12 bottle case. Some retailers sell half bottles for more! (they assure me these are full bottles) Shipping costs vary depending on your location but top out at $44 for a case shipped to the east coast (they don't ship to MA, that would be illegal). $23.60 fully loaded or less depending on where you're located.

Esquin is based in Seattle and has a sister e-commerce site at MadWine.com. This wine is a newsletter special and isn't available online. The best way to order is old school over the phone:

Deal hound friends will note that this wine doesn't show up on wine-searcher.com without Wine Searcher Pro. Pro adds listings for retailers who don't sponsor their listings on Wine-Searcher and the ability to create email alerts for wines matching your desired criteria. For example you can create a listing for "2009 Kosta Browne Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir that ships to MA for less than $60". That search might never turn up anything but it's worth a shot!

I'd love if you subscribed to The Wellesley Wine Press if you like hearing about wine deals like this.

Question of the Day: What do you think of this deal? Find any other good ones lately?